(The Hill) Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called Tuesday for Congress to expand background checks for gun purchases in the wake of a shooting in Charleston, S.C., last week that left nine dead.

“The United States is the only advanced country where this type of mass violence occurs,” Reid said from the Senate floor. “Let’s do something. We can expand, for example, background checks. … We should support not giving guns to people who are mentally ill and felons.”

Of course, that part about mass violence has already been proven a lie. The Hill forget to tell us what those actual checks are. Politico expands

The Senate’s top Democrat also touched on the issue in a floor speech earlier Tuesday, citing several mass shootings in the United States within the past six years. He called for background checks that would prevent the mentally ill and people with criminal records from buying firearms.

Felons are already barred from purchasing/possessing a firearm. Many with mental illness are, as well. Perhaps Senator Reid’s official website will provide more details

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We can expand gun background checks and prevent the mentally ill and criminal from buying guns. Is that asking too much? Couldn’t we at least do this little thing to stop people who are mentally ill, people who are criminals from purchasing guns? The people support it. It has bipartisan support. Americans overwhelmingly agree that those who are mentally ill or are felons should not be able to buy guns. We should act to save lives by expanding background checks.

I guess not. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. What criminal backgrounds? Should those with non-violent misdemeanors be barred? How about those who got a speeding ticket? A DUI? What mental health? Insomnia? An eating disorder? What? Interestingly, Reid mentions Fort Hood, without mentioning Islamic jihad, and the Navy Yard shooter, who completely failed the federal background check for a security clearance. And, he goes down other roads

One cannot ignore this underlying issue. It deeply troubles our nation. Hatred and bigotry persist. The harsh realities of hatred and bigotry in this country in addition to the consistent lack of opportunity in communities of color have led far too many men and women of color to feel as if their lives do not matter. It’s easy to feel that your life does not matter when the odds are stacked against you on every hand.

Here are some facts African-Americans face on a daily basis:

Nearly half of all African-American families have lived in poor neighborhoods for at least two generations, compared to just 7 percent of white families.

African-American men are far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms than white men, 10 percent longer for the same crimes in the federal system. In the state system the numbers are more skewed than that.

These facts alone illustrate that countless men and women face unprecedented challenges and are still judged by the color of their skin and not the content of their character. We have a moral obligation to change these realities. We must do everything within our power to ensure that all Americans know that their lives matter. That means standing for what is right, calling out bigotry and hatred when it’s seen and felt and then taking action to address this bigotry.

This coming from a leader for a Party that sees people, especially Blacks, simply as a large voting block to be pandered to, a Party whose policies have left Blacks stuck in those same ghettos. Those Black men being stopped and searched are typically within Democratic Party run stronghold cities. Why is it that the majority of crime in big cities, which tend to be Democratic Party strongholds, is perpetrated by Blacks, particularly Black men? Why are Blacks typically the vast majority of those who are murdered (by other Blacks) in these Democrat cities? Why are Blacks living in these poor neighborhoods in Democratic Party cities? Sure seems like Democratic Party has utterly failed the Black community, wouldn’t you say?